Casino stud poker varies from normal poker as you are only playing against one person: the Dealer. There may be other players at the table, but you do not need to worry about their hands.
The casino version is set up to be really easy. You start by placing your ante in the box provided. The Dealer will now deal 5 cards to all players face down, including himself. He will then turn his last card face up for everyone to see.
You may now pick up your cards and decide your best course of action.
There are only two choices you can make. You may either “Fold” your hand and lose your ante, or you may “Raise” you bet by placing exactly double your ante in the raise box.
Now that all players have made their bets or “Folded”, the Dealer will reveal the rest of his cards. If the Dealer does not have an Ace & King or better in his hand then he will pay even money on all ante bets left, but he will not pay any raise bets.
If the Dealer does have an Ace & King or better then he will turn over all the players hands and compare them to his. If he has beaten a hand then the ante and raise bets of that hand are lost. If he has the same hand then a “Stand Off” results and the ante and raise bets are left on the table. If the Dealer has lost, then he will pay even money on the ante, and will use the following pay structure to pay the raise bet.
|
Poker hands |
Description of hand |
Payout |
|
|
Royal Flush |
A, K, Q, J, and 10 of the same suit. |
 |
100-1 |
|
Straight Flush |
Five cards of the same suit, in sequence. |
 |
50-1 |
|
Four of a Kind |
Four cards of the same rank. |
 |
20-1 |
|
Full House |
Three of a Kind plus a Pair. |
 |
8-1 |
|
Flush |
Five cards of the same suit. |
 |
6-1 |
|
Straight |
Five cards in sequence (Aces can be high or low). |
 |
4-1 |
|
Three of a Kind |
Three cards of the same rank. |
 |
3-1 |
|
Two Pair |
Two Pairs, each of different rank. |
 |
2-1 |
|
Pair |
Two cards of the same rank. |
 |
Even |
|
No poker hand |
No combination of cards detailed above has been achieved. |
 |
Even |
Playing Strategy
There are two betting strategies that you may find yourself playing in Casino Stud Poker.
The first is to only raise when you have a quality hand (this would be at least a high pair). By playing this way you are less likely to lose your raise bet, but you will lose more ante bets.
The other strategy is to just raise with any hand no matter how bad, and hope that the Dealer will not get an Ace & King or better. This latter strategy can become quite tempting when the Dealer gets few true hands. This is not a good strategy, as you can lose a great deal of money in a relatively short period of time.
